Licking Christie

Via B.V. Lawson’s In Reference to Murder comes this news:

Crime writer Agatha Christie’s murder mystery novels are getting a new outing—as stamps. The Royal Mail in the UK has issued six stamps to mark the centenary of the year Christie wrote her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which introduced Belgian detective Hercule Poirot to the world. But these aren’t just ordinary stamps—they contain hidden clues and references, printed in special inks and microtext, to murders and key scenes in Christie’s most famous novels. Amateur sleuths will be able to use UV light, body heat and a magnifying glass to uncover hidden elements and key scenes in the stamps.

Welcome to the 21st century, Dame Agatha!

Revue of Reviewers, 9-20-16

Critiquing some of the most interesting recent crime, mystery, and thriller releases. Click on the individual covers to read more.

Celebrating Hard Work in the Big Easy

If you didn’t notice, The Rap Sheet has been silent for most of the last week, as I was in New Orleans, Louisiana, to attend this year’s Bouchercon. Having now returned to Rap Sheet headquarters (and an overwhelming landslide of e-mail messages!), I am preparing a number of follow-up posts about that event. But in the meantime, I want to be sure to document the winners of the various prizes dispensed over the course of this year’s “World Mystery Convention.”

ANTHONY AWARDS

(Winners chosen by Bouchercon attendees)

Best Novel: The Killing Kind, by Chris Holm (Mulholland)

Also nominated: Night Tremors, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview); The Child Garden, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink); The Nature of the Beast, by Louise Penny (Minotaur/Sphere); and What You See, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Best First Novel: Past Crimes, by Glen Erik Hamilton (Morrow)

Also nominated: Concrete Angel, by Patricia Abbott (Polis); New Yorked, by Rob Hart (Polis); Bull Mountain, by Brian Panowich (Putnam); and On the Road with Del & Louise, by Art Taylor
(Henery Press)

Best Paperback Original: The Long and Faraway Gone,
by Lou Berney (Morrow)

Also nominated: Gun Street Girl, by Adrian McKinty (Seventh Street); Little Pretty Things, by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street); Young Americans, by Josh Stallings (Heist); and Stone Cold Dead, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street)

Best Critical or Non-fiction Book: Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us About Crime, by Val McDermid (Grove)

Also nominated: The Golden Age of Murder: The Mystery of the Writers Who Invented the Modern Detective Story, by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins); Meanwhile, There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald, edited by Suzanne Marrs and Tom Nolan (Arcade); The Lost Detective: Becoming Dashiell Hammett, by Nathan Ward (Bloomsbury USA); and The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook: Wickedly Good Meals and Desserts to Die For, by Kate White, editor (Quirk)

Best Short Story: “The Little Men,” by Megan Abbott
(Mysterious Press/Open Road)

Also nominated: “The Siege,” by Hilary Davidson (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, December 2015); “Feliz Navidead,” by Brace Godfrey and Johnny Shaw (from ThugLit Presents: Cruel Yule, edited by Todd Robinson; ThugLit); “Old Hands,” by Erin Mitchell (from Dark City Lights, edited by Lawrence Block; Three Rooms); “Quack and Dwight,” by Travis Richardson (from Jewish Noir, edited by Kenneth Wishnia; PM Press); and “Don’t Fear the Ripper,” by Holly West (from Protectors 2: Heroes, edited by Thomas Pluck; Goombah Gumbo Press)

Best Anthology or Collection: Murder Under the Oaks: Bouchercon Anthology 2015, edited by Art Taylor (Down & Out)

Also nominated: Safe Inside the Violence, by Christopher Irvin (280 Steps); Protectors 2: Heroes, edited by Thomas Pluck (Goombah Gumbo Press); ThugLit Presents: Cruel Yule, edited by Todd Robinson (ThugLit); and Jewish Noir, edited by Kenneth Wishnia (PM Press)

Best Young Adult Novel: Need, by Joelle Charbonneau
(HMH Books for Young Readers)

Also nominated: How to Win at High School, by Owen Matthews (HarperTeen); A Madness So Discreet, by Mindy McGinnis (Katherine Tegen); The Sin Eater’s Daughter, by Melinda Salisbury (Scholastic); Fighting Chance, by B.K. Stevens (Poisoned Pencil); and Ask the Dark, by Henry Turner (Clarion)

Best Crime Fiction Audiobook: The Nature of the Beast, by Louise Penny; narrated by Robert Bathurst (Macmillan Audio)

Also nominated: Dark Waters, by Chris Goff; narrated by Assaf Cohen (Crooked Lane); The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins; narrated by Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, and India Fisher (Penguin Audio/Random House Audiobooks); Causing Chaos, by Deborah J. Ledford; narrated by Christina Cox (IOF); and Young Americans, by Josh Stallings; narrated by Em Eldridge (Josh Stallings)

Lifetime Achievement Award: David Morrell

SHAMUS AWARDS

(Presented by the Private Eye Writers of America)

Best Hardcover Private Eye Novel: Brutality, by Ingrid Thoft (Putnam)

Also nominated: The Promise, by Robert Crais (Putnam); Dance of the Bones, by J.A. Jance (Morrow); Gumshoe, by Robert Leininger (Oceanview); and Brush Back, by Sara Paretsky (Putnam)

Best First Private Eye Novel: The Do-Right, by Lisa Sandlin
(Cinco Puntos Press)

Also nominated: The Red Storm, by Grant Bywaters (Minotaur); Night Tremors, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview); Trouble in Rooster Paradise, by T.W. Emory (Coffeetown Press); and Depth, by Lev Ac Rosen
(Regan Arts)

Best Original Private Eye Paperback: Circling the Runway,
by J.L. Abramo (Down & Out)

Also nominated: The Long Cold, by O'Neil De Noux (Big Kiss); Split to Splinters, by Max Everhart (Camel Press); The Man in the Window, by Dana King (CreateSpace); and Red Desert, by Clive Rosengren (Moonshine Cove)

Best Private Eye Short Story: “The Dead Client,” by Parnell Hall (from Dark City Lights: New York Stories, edited by Lawrence Block; Three Rooms Press)

Also nominated: “The Runaway Girl from Portland, Oregon,” by C.B. Forrest (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine [AHMM], October 2015); “The Sleep of Death,” by David Edgerley Gates (AHMM, December 2015); “The Dead Detective,” by Robert S. Levinson (from Coast to Coast: Murder from Sea to Shining Sea, edited by Andrew McAleer and Paul D. Marks; Down & Out); and “The Continental Opposite,” by Evan Lewis (AHMM, May 2015)

The Eye Award for lifetime achievement: S.J. Rozan

BARRY AWARDS

(Presented by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine)

Best Novel:
Badlands, by C.J. Box (Minotaur)

Also nominated: A Song of Shadows, by John Connolly (Emily Bestler/Atria); The Stolen Ones, by Owen Laukkanen (Putnam); Life or Death, by Michael Robotham (Mulholland); Devil of Delphi, by Jeffrey Siger (Poisoned Pen Press); and The Cartel, by Don Winslow (Knopf)

Best First Novel:
The Unquiet Dead, by Ausma Zehanat Khan (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Ruins of War, by John A. Connell (Berkley); Past Crimes, by Glen Erik Hamilton (Morrow); Jade Dragon Mountain, by Elsa Hart (Minotaur); The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins (Riverhead); and Bull Mountain, by Brian Panowich (Putnam)

Best Paperback Original:
The Long and Faraway Gone, by Lou Berney (Morrow)

Also nominated: Blessed Are Those Who Weep, by Kristi Belcamino (Witness Impulse); Quarry’s Choice, by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime); No Other Darkness, by Sarah Hilary (Penguin); Snow Blind, by Ragnar Jónasson (Orenda); and Stone Cold Dead, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street)

Best Thriller: The Mask, by Taylor Stevens (Crown)

Also nominated: Brute Force, by Marc Cameron (Pinnacle); The Killing Kind, by Chris Holm (Mulholland); Viking Bay, by M.A. Lawson (Blue Rider); Hostage Taker, by Stefanie Pintoff (Bantam); and Foreign and Domestic, by A.J. Tata (Pinnacle)

The Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in mystery fandom: David Magayna

MACAVITY AWARDS

(Presented by Mystery Readers International)

Best Mystery: The Long and Faraway Gone, by Lou Berney (Morrow)

Also nominated: Little Black Lies, by Sharon Bolton (Minotaur); The Hot Countries, by Tim Hallinan (Soho Crime); The Child Garden, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink); Life or Death, by Michael Robotham (Mulholland); and The Cartel, by Don Winslow (Knopf)

Best First Mystery: Past Crimes, by Glen Erik Hamilton (Morrow)

Also nominated: Concrete Angel, by Patricia Abbott (Polis); The Killing Kind, by Chris Holm (Mulholland); Where All Light Tends to Go, by David Joy (Putnam); The Unquiet Dead, by Ausma Zehanat Khan (Minotaur); and On the Road with Del & Louise, by Art Taylor
(Henery Press)

Best Critical/Biographical: The Golden Age of Murder: The Mystery of the Writers Who Invented the Modern Detective Story, by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins)

Also nominated: A Is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie, by Kathryn Harkup (Bloomsbury Sigma); Meanwhile, There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald, edited by Suzanne Marrs and Tom Nolan (Arcade); Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us About Crime, by Val McDermid (Grove); and The Lost Detective: Becoming Dashiell Hammett, by Nathan Ward (Bloomsbury)

Best Short Story: “The Little Men,” by Megan Abbott
(Mysterious Press/Open Road)

Also nominated: “On Borrowed Time,” by Mat Coward (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, June 2015); “Sob Sister,” by Loren D. Estleman (from Detroit Is Our Beat: Tales of the Four Horsemen, by Loren D. Estleman; Tyrus); “A Year Without Santa Claus,” by Barb Goffman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine [AHMM], January/February 2015); “Quack and Dwight,” by Travis Richardson (from Jewish Noir, edited by Kenneth Wishnia; PM Press); and “A Joy Forever,” by B.K. Stevens (AHMM, March 2015)

Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award: The Masque of a Murderer, by Susanna Calkins (Minotaur)

Also nominated: A Gilded Grave, by Shelley Freydont (Berkley Prime Crime); Tom & Lucky (and George & Cokey Flo), by C. Joseph Greaves (Bloomsbury); The Lady from Zagreb, by Philip Kerr (Putnam); Secret Life of Anna Blanc, by Jennifer Kincheloe (Seventh Street); and Dreaming Spies, by Laurie R. King (Bantam)

DERRINGER AWARDS

(Presented by the Short Mystery Fiction Society)

Best Flash Story (up to 1,000 words):
“Hero,” by Vy Kava (from Red Dawn: Best New England Crime Stories 2016, edited by Mark Ammons, Katherine Fast, Barbara Ross, and Leslie Wheeler; Level Best)

Best Short Story (1,001-4,000 words):
“Twilight Ladies,” by Meg Opperman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], March/April 2015)

Best Long Story (4,001-8,000 words):
“Dentonville,” by John M. Floyd (EQMM, November 2015)

Best Novelette (8,001-20,000 words):
“Driver,” by John M. Floyd (The Strand Magazine, February-May 2015)

The Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for lifetime achievement: Michael Bracken

In addition, these commendations were given out during the Bouchercon opening ceremonies:

David Thompson Special Service Award: Otto Penzler

Teen Short Story Writing Awards: Sarah Devin Burse, Kate Marsh, Cherrikee Rhea, Sasha Robertson, Mayia Tate, Peter Williams, and Poet Wolfe. (To read their commended tales, check out Shadows in the Big Easy: An Anthology of Seven Award Winning Teen Mysteries)

Just in Time for Holiday Buying

Following up on my most recent Kirkus Reviews column, in which I highlighted a variety of new crime, mystery, and thriller novels due out in September and October, this week’s column focuses on titles coming our way during the last two months of 2016. Those include a greatly expanded version of Max Allan Collins’ The Road to Perdition, the final entry in David Morrell’s trilogy of whodunits starring British essayist and notorious drug addict Thomas De Quincey, and Erle Stanley Gardner’s “lost” second entry in his underappreciated series starring Los Angeles private eyes Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. You’ll find my comments on these works, and more, by clicking here.

READ MORE: “What’s New in Canadian Crime Fiction,” by Bill Selnes (Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan).

We Interrupt Our Regular Broadcasting …

The Rap Sheet today begins a much-needed and much-delayed, week-long hiatus. We will catch up with all the doings at Bouchercon in New Orleans after we return. Take care, and happy reading!

Surprises Among the Man Booker Picks

Now, this is interesting news. From the UK’s Guardian:

Scottish writer Graeme Macrae Burnet’s story of murder in a 19th-century crofting community has beaten novels by some of literature’s biggest names on to a shortlist for the Man Booker Prize that judges said “take[s] risks with language and form”.

Burnet’s His Bloody Project, published by tiny independent Scottish press Saraband, is one of six titles to be shortlisted for this year’s £50,000 prize. The judges, chaired by Amanda Foreman, overlooked major writers on the longlist including Nobel laureate J.M. Coetzee, Costa winner A.L. Kennedy and Pulitzer winner Elizabeth Strout, to choose titles including Burnet’s His Bloody Project and a debut novel from the American writer Ottessa Moshfegh, the psychological thriller Eileen.

I haven’t yet read Burnet’s yarn (it’s not due out in the States until October), but it has certainly scored a lot of buzz since it was longlisted for this year’s Man Booker in July. It’s nice to see a work of historical crime fiction recognized in such a big way. Especially nice to see it paired in this contest with Moshfegh’s noirish Eileen

The victor in this year’s Man Booker Prize competition will be announced on October 25.

FOLLOW-UP: Speaking of unexpected award contenders, I should note that poet-novelist Steven Price’s forthcoming historical mystery, By Gaslight, has won a place on the longlist for Canada’s 2016 Giller Prize. The shortlist for that commendation is expected to be broadcast on September 26, with the winner to be declared on November 7.

Revue of Reviewers, 9-12-16

Critiquing some of the most interesting recent crime, mystery, and thriller releases. Click on the individual covers to read more.

“One” for Three

Just over two weeks ago, The Rap Sheet announced its latest book-giveaway competition, the prizes up for grabs being three copies of Andrew Gross’ new The One Man, an Alistair MacLean-esque thriller set during World War II. In order to enter this drawing, contestants had to answer one rather simple question:

Which of these Alistair MacLean novels is not a World War II thriller?
(1) HMS Ulysses
(2) Where Eagles Dare
(3) Puppet on a Chain
(4) The Guns of Navarone

We received dozens of submissions before yesterday’s deadline, a few containing wrong answers, but most entrants having selected the correct book, which was of course Puppet on a Chain (1969). From among those accurate contestants, this morning we’ve selected—completely at random—our winners. They are:

• Mark Polak of Redondo Beach, California
• Jane Robinson of Driftwood, Texas
• Al Abramson of Verona, Wisconsin

Congratulations to all three of these Rap Sheet readers! Gross’ New York City-based publisher, St. Martin’s Minotaur, should soon be sending free copies of The One Man directly to you.

Oh, and don’t worry if you failed to make this cut. We should have another book-giveaway challenge arranged in short order.

Tartan Talent on Tap

Glasgow-born author Chris Brookmyre has captured the inaugural Mclvanney Prize (previously the Scottish Crime Book of the Year) for Black Widow (Little, Brown UK). That announcement was made during tonight’s opening ceremonies at the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival being held this weekend in Stirling.

Also in contention for this commendation—which is named in honor of the late novelist William McIlvanney (Laidlaw)—were The Jump, by Doug Johnstone (Faber); Splinter the Silence, by Val McDermid (Little, Brown); and Beloved Poison, by E.S. Thomson (Little, Brown).

According to a press release, “the judges—journalist Lee Randall, award-winning librarian Stewart Bain, and former editor of The Scotsman and The Times (Scotland), Magnus Linklater—described Black Widow as: “like watching Olympic diving—just when you think the plot can’t twist again, it takes a new turn. Even the twists have twists. With a theme of cyber-abuse, this shows an author taking a long-running series to new heights.”

Congratulations to all the nominated authors and books!

The Book You Have to Read: “Persuader,” by Lee Child

(Editor’s note: This is the 141st installment in The Rap Sheet’s continuing series about great but forgotten books. Today’s contribution comes from Diane Capri, the author of several best-selling series, including the Jess Kimball, Heir Hunter, Hunt for Justice, and Hunt for Jack Reacher series. A former lawyer and past executive vice president of International Thriller Writers, she now divides her time between Florida and Michigan. Capri has been nominated for several prizes, including the International Thriller Award, and she won the silver award for Best Thriller e-Book from the Independent Publishers Association. Her latest novel, due out in October from Thomas & Mercer, is Blood Trails.)

Perhaps no book by Lee Child, undeniably one of today’s most successful thriller writers, can truly be called “forgotten,” but bear with me a minute.

Persuader, originally published in 2003, was Child’s seventh novel featuring his iconic vigilante with a heart, Jack Reacher. Persuader was the first of the Reacher books to hit the New York Times best-seller list in both hardcover (2003) and paperback (2004).

Persuader was a rebirth for the already successful series in many ways, because it was the first Reacher novel from Bantam after another publisher had released the initial six. The new publisher brought fresh momentum to the series.

Indeed, rebirth is a theme that runs throughout Child’s tale. The villain here was reborn 10 years after Reacher believed he’d killed the bastard. And Reacher himself rises from the sea in a feat of superhuman self-preservation at the end of the book.

Would we have 21 Reacher novels today if Persuader had failed to grab us by the throat and never let go? Fortunately, we don’t need to guess the answer, because Persuader’s success, and the increasing success of every Lee Child book thereafter, serves to keep Reacher top-of-mind.

But Persuader, as important as it was at the time, sits firmly in the middle of the Reacher oeuvre and might be overlooked in favor of the first books or the latest in the series.

Persuader is the only one of the Reacher yarns that begins with a trick, an elaborate ruse that leads us in the wrong direction, instead of Reacher’s characteristic straightforward start.

Persuader runs on three parallel timelines. The book opens 11 days after Reacher becomes involved. Chapter 2 takes us back to his enlistment in the action by the FBI. And throughout the story, we’re aware that Reacher has his own agenda this time. One that he doesn’t share.

Sure, he’ll help the FBI take down the drug dealer. Yes, he’ll rescue the kidnapped agent. Of course, he doesn’t worry about the rules. But that’s not why he’s here, in Abbot, Maine, risking his own life while handling the bad guys.

Reacher’s hidden agenda is revenge, pure and simple. Reacher proves, just in case anyone was not clear on this issue, that he’s a stone-cold killer. And, because we trust him, we cheer for the vigilante hero with heart. We know Reacher is on our side, and we feel like we need him there. We’re grateful.

We love these books because in addition to the iconic character, the relentless action, the excitement and reward of the story, we also get Lee Child’s unique style.

I have discussed this book with Lee at length and with others in an unusual way.

I write an authorized spin-off series from Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels. Two years ago, I began to write Deep Cover Jack (AugustBooks), entry No. 4 in that series. I usually begin with a source book in mind, and for Deep Cover Jack, I chose Persuader. I’d been excited to feature this one because, back in 2006, Lee and I used Persuader to create a mock trial at ThrillerFest in Phoenix. Were you there?

Reacher was charged with premeditated murder. Lee played the role of Reacher, of course. I was the judge. Thriller writers who are real-life lawyers and cops played the other roles. Paul Levine, for instance, was Reacher’s defense attorney. Our prosecutor was Michele Martinez and her star witness was James O. Born. Our bailiff was David Dun. We had two juries, including readers and reviewers such as the amazing Ali Karim and Carol Fitzgerald. An audience of more than 200 readers joined us, and the trial was great fun.

During trial preparation and the jury deliberations afterward, we had the opportunity to delve into Persuader in a deeper way than most readers would. We discussed Reacher’s motives and actions, and we heard his testimony from somebody as close as anyone will ever come to the man himself.

The evidence against Reacher was overwhelming. Yet both juries found Reacher not guilty. When we asked the jurors to explain their verdicts, they told us they were persuaded by two things.

First were Reacher’s motives. Reacher always does what he feels is the right thing in the face of overwhelming odds. Reacher’s desire to stand up for what he believes is right, regardless of the consequences, resonated powerfully with these readers.

(Left) Author Diane Capri

During the years I’ve been writing my Hunt for Jack Reacher series, I’ve heard these sentiments from readers over and over again. Readers appreciate what they view as Reacher’s fundamental decency and kindness to people who deserve it, while at the same time he deals fatal blows to those who deserve no clemency. It’s perfect cosmic justice.

The second persuasive thing to these jurors was even more telling. Simply put, they wanted more Reacher novels. They were worried that a guilty verdict would stop Lee Child from writing more books. No one was willing to risk that. Reacher had become too important to them.

Fine fiction, the kind that a writer like Lee Child has delivered in 21 Reacher novels (including this November’s new release, Night School, provides an entertaining catharsis of sorts to the reader. Research shows that when we immerse ourselves in a good story, our brains experience it virtually, as if we were engaged in the actual experience ourselves.

Reading Reacher gives us the emotional satisfaction of righting the wrongs that have been done to us or to our friends and families. Nowhere is that experience more satisfying than in Lee Child’s Persuader.

Or had you forgotten?

Five Years, 50 Years—Mission Accomplished

I know this is supposed to be a crime-fiction blog, but I can’t resist mentioning that tonight marks 50 years since the debut of the NBC-TV series Star Trek. Terence Towles Canote has a nice in-depth post up about this anniversary, which notes that

Since September 8, 1966, Star Trek has become the stuff of television legends. It was the low-rated science-fiction show saved by its fans from cancellation that became a phenomenon in syndicated reruns. While there is some truth to the legend (in its initial network run Star Trek’s ratings were always moderate to low), there is much about the legend that simply isn’t true. Indeed, even while in its first run there were signs that Star Trek was on its way to becoming a phenomenon.

Comic-book writer Christopher Mills offers his own thoughts on the show, in Atomic Pulp, explaining that the original, 1966-1969 Trek “inspired and informed the person I became.

I learned the value of reason and logic from an alien with pointed ears and a Satanic visage. I learned the nobility of humanity and compassion toward all life, regardless of shape, color or form, from an anachronistic Southern medic. And, most importantly, I learned about the worth of boldness, courage, and tempered wisdom from a charming leader with a confident swagger sporting a gold tunic. [Captain James T.] Kirk was a fighter, a diplomat, a philosopher—and a libidinous wolf—but in my eyes, he was the best of us as a species. He wasn’t perfect—and to his credit, usually admitted his flaws and acknowledged his mistakes—but he was also a man of intelligence and action, who sought out brave new worlds and always had his eye on the future.

My own experience with Star Trek didn’t begin until the early 1970s, when I was old enough and aware enough to appreciate television. To my mother’s regret and my father’s everlasting bewilderment, I became a Trek fan for life as a result of watching reruns of that series’ original 79 episodes about a multi-cultural crew of explorers who raced across the galaxy in a sleek starship, bringing help to humans and aliens in need, and taking with them a message of hope and love and peace. (It didn’t hurt, either, that there was the occasional Orion dancing girl to catch a young boy’s eye!) I have since seen all of the Star Trek spinoffs and every Trek movie save the most recent one. I even went with my niece one year to a Trek convention, during which I had the pleasure of listening to William Shatner recount his hilarious experience in traveling to Seattle for that event.

I think creator Gene Roddenberry’s vision for Star Trek has been greatly enhanced and deepened by some of the people who took over the franchise after his death in 1991, particularly executive producer Rick Berman. Yet Roddenberry gave television watchers the blueprint, and even half a century later, his “Wagon Train to the stars” is as durable and promising and hopeful as ever.

Live long and prosper, my fellow Star Trek fans!

READ MORE: “To Boldly Imagine: Star Trek’s Half Century,” by Andrew Liptak (Kirkus Reviews); “Star Trek’s Still as Relevant on the 50th Anniversary,” by Dave Marinaccio (Bookgasm); “The Mission to Restore the Original Starship Enterprise,” by Jackie Mansky (Smithsonian); “Star Trek at 50: The Theme Song Has Lyrics. No, Really,” by Chris Barton (Los Angeles Times).

Fall for These: Reading Out 2016

Just last week, I was lamenting to a close friend how overwhelmed I felt when contemplating this coming season’s abundance of new crime, mystery, and thriller fiction. And that was before I actually went through the exercise of putting together my lengthy “critic’s choice” selection of titles rolling out during the final four months of 2016. My most recent Kirkus Reviews column highlighted 10 books in this genre due out during September and October, and my forthcoming Kirkus piece will focus on a handful of other works scheduled for release in November and December. But those represent a mere drop in the bucket as far as crime-fiction publishing goes. Between what U.S. and British houses will be offering in the run-up to Christmas, I have culled out more than 320 books of interest to Rap Sheet readers.

This mix includes fresh fiction from familiar wordsmiths such as Linwood Barclay (The Twenty-Three), Sophie Hannah (Closed Casket), Ken Bruen (The Emerald Lie), Mark Mills (Where Dead Men Meet), Peter May (Coffin Road), Ann Cleeves (The Moth Catcher), Anthony Horowitz (Magpie Murders), Tana French (The Trespasser), Max Allan Collins (Quarry in the Black), Robert Littell (The Mayakovsky Tapes), Timothy Hallinan (Fields Where They Lay), Ian Rankin (Rather Be the Devil), and even the long-dead Erle Stanley Gardner (The Knife Slipped). On top of those, it features less-familiar but nonetheless estimable writers on the order of Thomas Mullen (Darktown), Sarah Ward (A Deadly Thaw), Amy Stewart (Lady Cop Makes Trouble), Chris Holm (Red Right Hand), Belinda Bauer (The Beautiful Dead), and Hans Olav Lahlum (Chameleon People). In addition, there are several worthy short-story collections (among them Jim Fusilli’s Crime Plus Music and a posthumous offering from P.D. James, The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories), the first two volumes in a seven-book compendium of Margaret Millar’s work, and non-fiction tomes addressing favorite storytellers such as John le Carré (The Pigeon Tunnel) and Shirley Jackson (Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life). Because the fall season includes Halloween, I have peppered in a few tales of a blood-curdling sort; and because Americans will vote in November for a new president, you’ll find mentioned here a variety of yarns that might appeal to the cozy-mystery fan who’s most likely to win that office.

This is not, by any means, an exhaustive list of what will become available in English between now and New Year’s Day, 2017. Instead, it reflects my idiosyncratic tastes and my experience with the genre. If you’re craving more reading suggestions, click over to The Bloodstained Bookshelf (for coming American titles) or Euro Crime (for British releases). And as usual, if you think I’ve failed to mention any must-read mystery or thriller novels scheduled to appear this colder season, please don’t hesitate to drop a note about them into the Comments section at the bottom of this post.

Non-fiction titles are identified below with asterisks (*).

SEPTEMBER (U.S.):

• Ambush, by Nick Oldham (Severn House)

• The Apostle Killer, by Richard Beard (Melville House)

• The Babe Ruth Deception, by David O. Stewart (Kensington)

• Beloved Poison, by E.S. Thomson (Pegasus)

• Black Water, by Louise Doughty (Sarah Crichton)

• Blind Sight, by Carol O’Connell (Putnam)

• Blood Crime, by Sebastiá Alzamora (Soho Crime)

• Blood Wedding, by Pierre Lemaitre (MacLehose Press)

• Blue Madonna, by James R. Benn (Soho Crime)

• Boondoggle, by Mark Rapacz (280 Steps)

• The Butcher’s Son, by Grant McKenzie (Polis)

• Casting Bones, by Don Bruns (Severn House)

• Catacombs of Terror! by Stanley Donwood (Tyrus)

• Close Call, by Laura DiSilverio (Midnight Ink)

• Closed Casket, by Sophie Hannah (Morrow)

• Collected Millar: The Master at Her Zenith, by Margaret Millar
(Soho Syndicate)

• Combustion, by Martin J. Smith (Diversion)

• Daisy in Chains, by Sharon Bolton (Minotaur)

• Dark Gonna Catch Me Here, by Steve Liskow (CreateSpace)

• Darktown, by Thomas Mullen (Atria/37 INK)

• The Dead Hand, by Michael A. Kahn (Poisoned Pen Press)

• A Deadly Thaw, by Sarah Ward (Minotaur)

• Dead Men’s Bones, by James Oswald (Crooked Lane)

• Dead or Alive, by Ken McCoy (Severn House)

• Dear Mr. M, by Herman Koch (Hogarth)

• Death of an Avid Reader, by Frances Brody (Minotaur)

• Devil Sent the Rain, by Lisa Turner (Morrow)

• The Devil’s Work, by Mark Edwards (Thomas & Mercer)

• A Dreadful Past, by Peter Turnbull (Severn House)

• The Dread Line, by Bruce DeSilva (Forge)

• The Emerald Lie, by Ken Bruen (Mysterious Press)

• The Empress of Tempera, by Alex Dolan (Diversion)

• End Game, by David Hagberg (Forge)

• The Eskimo Solution, by Pascal Garnier (Gallic)

• Fates and Traitors, by Jennifer Chiaverini (Dutton)

• Fire in the Stars, by Barbara Fradkin (Dundurn)

• Flash Point, by Colby Marshall (Severn House)

• Foreign Bodies, by David Wishart (Crème de la Crime)

• The Fourth Figure, by Pieter Aspe (Open Road)

• The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Murder at Sorrow’s Crown, by Steven Savile and Robert Greenberger (Titan)

• A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles (Viking)

• Ghosts of Havana, by Todd Moss (Putnam)

• Girl in Danger, by Leigh Russell (Thomas & Mercer)

• Gunshine State, by Andrew Nette (280 Steps)

• Home, by Harlan Coben (Dutton)

• The Homeplace, by Kevin Wolf (Minotaur)

• The Hope That Kills, by Ed James (Thomas & Mercer)

• Impala, by Andrew Diamond (Stolen Time Press)

• Infamy, by Robert K. Tanenbaum (Gallery)

• The Kept Woman, by Karin Slaughter (Morrow)

• Lady Cop Makes Trouble, by Amy Stewart (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

• Liar’s Key, by Carla Neggers (Mira)

• A Long Time Dead, by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (Mysterious Press/Open Road)

• The Magician’s Duel, by Judith Janeway (Poisoned Pen Press)

• Maigret’s Dead Man, by Georges
Simenon (Penguin)

• Manitou Canyon, by William Kent Krueger (Atria)

• A March to Remember, by Anna Loan-Wilsey (Kensington)

• Mercury, by Margot Livesey (Harper)

• Mr. Campion’s Fault, by Mike Ripley (Severn House)

• Murder at Rough Point, by Alyssa Maxwell (Kensington)

• The Nix, by Nathan Hill (Knopf)

• Nutshell, by Ian McEwan (Nan A. Talese)

• An Obvious Fact, by Craig Johnson (Viking)

• Only Daughter, by Anna Snoekstra (Mira)

• Papercuts, by Colin Bateman (Head of Zeus)

• The Perfect Girl, by by Gilly Macmillan (Morrow)

• The Pigeon Tunnel, by John le Carré (Viking)*

• Pirate, by Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell (Putnam)

• Presumption of Guilt, by Archer Mayor (Minotaur)

• Pushing Up Daisies, by M.C. Beaton (Minotaur)

• The Question of the Felonious Friend, by E.J. Copperman/
Jeff Cohen (Midnight Ink)

• Razor Girl, by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf )

• Reckless Creed, by Alex Kava (Putnam)

• The Reckoning on Cane Hill, by Steve Mosby (Pegasus)

• Red Right Hand, by Chris Holm (Mulholland)

• Revenge in a Cold River, by Anne Perry (Ballantine)

• The Risen, by Ron Rash (Ecco)

• Robert B. Parker’s Debt to Pay, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Putnam)

• Santorini Caesars, by Jeffrey Siger (Poisoned Pen Press)

• Sara Paretsky: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction, by Margaret Kinsman (McFarland)

• The Secrets of Wishtide, by Kate Saunders (Bloomsbury USA)

• The 7th Canon, by Robert Dugoni (Thomas & Mercer)

• Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, by Ruth Franklin (Liveright)*

• The Sinking Admiral, edited by Simon Brett (Collins Crime Club)

• So Say the Fallen, by Stuart Neville (Soho Crime)

• Stalking Ground, by Margaret Mizushima (Crooked Lane)

• Sun, Sand, Murder, by John Keyse-Walker (Minotaur)

• Sunshine Noir, edited by Annamaria Alfieri and Michael Stanley (White Sun, e-book edition only)

• Surface to Air, by Gérard de Villiers (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

• The Things We Wish Were True, by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
(Lake Union)

• Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d, by Alan Bradley (Delacorte Press)

• Tier One, by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson (Thomas & Mercer)

• Tin Hollow, by J.B. Hogan (Shannon Press)

• To the Last Drop, by Sandra Balzo (Severn House)

• Under the Carib Sun, by Ro Cuzon (280 Steps)

• Under the Dixie Moon, by Ro Cuzon (280 Steps)

• The Vanished, by Lotte and Søren Hammer (Bloomsbury USA)

• The Vanishing Year, by Kate Moretti (Atria)

• We Eat Our Own, by Kea Wilson (Scribner)

• What Gold Buys, by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen Press)

• The White Mirror, by Elsa Hart (Minotaur)

• The Wicked Go to Hell, by Frédéric Dard (Pushkin Vertigo)

• Winter’s Child, by Margaret Coel (Berkley)

• The Woman on the Orient Express, by Lindsay Jayne Ashford (Lake Union)

SEPTEMBER (UK):

• All the Devils, by Neil Broadfoot (Contraband)

• The Authentic William James, by Stephen Gallagher (Subterranean Press)

• Beneath the Surface, by Jo Spain (Quercus)

• Between the Crosses, by Matthew Frank (Penguin)

• The Bird Tribunal, by Agnes Ravatn (Orenda)

• The Borrowed, by Ho-Kei Chan (Head of Zeus)

• Chameleon People, by Hans Olav Lahlum (Mantle)

• Deep Blue, by Alan Judd (Simon & Schuster)

• Dodger of the Revolution, by James Benmore (Heron)

• The Heretic’s Creed, by Fiona Buckley (Creme de la Crime)

• Hide and Seek, by M.J. Arlidge (Michael Joseph)

• An Incidental Death, by Alex Howard (Head of Zeus)

• Learning Curve, by Catherine Aird (Allison & Busby)

• Living Death, by Graham Masterton (Head of Zeus)

• The Lost Girl, by Tania Carver (Sphere)

• The Malice of Waves, by Mark Douglas-Home (Penguin)

• Mistress of the Just Land, by David Ashton (Two Roads)

• Modern Crimes, by Chris Nickson (History Press)

• Murderabilia, by Craig Robertson (Simon & Schuster)

• The Murder Book, by Jane A. Adams (Severn House)

• Murder on the Serpentine, by Anne Perry (Headline)

• Ordeal by Fire, by Sarah Hawkswood (Allison & Busby)

• Quick off the Mark, by Susan Moody (Severn House)

• Remission, by Ed Chatterton (Caffeine Nights)

• A Rustle of Silk, by Alys Clare (Severn House)

• The Secret Broker, by Simon Crane (Quartet)

• The Sleepless Ones, by James Marrison (Penguin)

• Stay Dead, by Jessie Keane (Macmillan)

• Strangers, by Paul Finch (Avon)

• Trouble Is Our Business: Stories by Irish Crime Writers, edited by Declan Burke (New Island)

• Undertow, by Elizabeth Heathcote (Quercus)

• Who Killed Piet Barol? by Richard Mason (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

OCTOBER (U.S.):

• All the Little Liars, by Charlaine Harris (Minotaur)

• Among the Living, by Jonathan Rabb (Other Press)

• Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions, by Mario Giordano (Bitter
Lemon Press)

• The Best American Mystery Stories 2016, edited by
Elizabeth George (Mariner)

• The Big Book of Jack the Ripper,
edited by Otto Penzler (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

• Black Hills, by Franklin Schneider and Jennifer Schneider (Thomas & Mercer)

• Blood on the Tracks, by Barbara Nickless (Thomas & Mercer)

• Blood Trails, by Diane Capri
(Thomas & Mercer)

• Bright Midnight, by Chris Formant (HighLine Editions)

• By Gaslight, by Steven Price (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

• Coffin Road, by Peter May (Quercus)

• Crepe Factor, by Laura Childs (Berkley)

• Crime Plus Music: Twenty Stories of Music-Themed Noir, edited by Jim Fusilli (Three Rooms Press)

• Death Among Rubies, by R.J. Koreto (Crooked Lane)

• Drone Threat, by Mike Maden (Putnam)

• The Eastern Shore, by Ward Just (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

• Echoes of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon, edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger (Pegasus)

• Edgar Allan Poe and the London Monster, by Karen Lee Street (Pegasus)

• Eggnog Murder, by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Barbara Ross (Kensington)

• Every Man a Menace, by Patrick Hoffman (Atlantic Monthly Press)

• Exile on Bridge Street, by Eamon Loingsigh (Three Rooms Press)

• The Fall Guy, by James Lasdun (Norton)

• Fields Where They Lay, by Timothy Hallinan (Soho Crime)

• The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Counterfeit Detective, by Stuart Douglas (Titan)

• Ghost Times Two, by Carolyn Hart (Berkley)

• The Girl from Venice, by Martin Cruz Smith (Simon & Schuster)

• Grizzly Season, by S.W. Lauden (Rare Bird)

• The Heavens May Fall, by Allen Eskens (Seventh Street)

• Hell Bay, by Will Thomas (Minotaur)

• His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae, by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Skyhorse) — longlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize

• Hold a Scorpion, by Melodie Johnson-Howe (Pegasus)

• House of Blazes, by Dietrich Kalteis (ECW Press)

• How to Kill Friends and Implicate People, by Jay Stringer
(Thomas & Mercer)

• Incensed, by Ed Lin (Soho Crime)

• IQ, by Joe Ide (Mulholland)

• Jimmy and Fay, by Michael Mayo (Mysterious Press/Open Road)

• The Kid, by Ron Hansen (Scribner)

• Little Boy Blue, by M.J. Arlidge (Berkley)

• Livia Lone, by Barry Eisler (Thomas & Mercer)

• The Madonna of Notre Dame, by Alexis Ragougneau
(New Vessel Press)

• Mary Russell’s War, by Laurie R. King (Poisoned Pen Press)

• Memories Lie, by C.J. Carpenter (Midnight Ink)

• The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories, by P.D. James (Knopf)

• A Most Novel Revenge, by Ashley Weaver (Minotaur)

• The Moth Catcher, by Ann Cleeves (Minotaur)

• The Mystery of the Three Orchids, by Augusto De Angelis (Pushkin Vertigo)

• The Next, by Stephanie Gangi
(St. Martin's Press)

• Night Watch, by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen (St. Martin’s Press)

• No Witness but the Moon, by Suzanne Chazin (Kensington)

• The Oslo Conspiracy, by Asle Skredderberget (Thomas Dunne)

• Permanent Sunset, by C. Michele Dorsey (Crooked Lane)

• The Plague Road, by L.C. Tyler (Constable)

• Precious and Grace, by Alexander McCall Smith (Pantheon)

• Poisonfeather, by Matthew FitzSimmons (Thomas & Mercer)

• Quarry in the Black, by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime)

• The Queen’s Accomplice, by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam)

• The Secret History of Twin Peaks, by Mark Frost (Flatiron Books)*

• Seduced, by Randy Wayne White (Putnam)

• Skin and Bone, by Robin Blake (Minotaur)

• South Village, by Rob Hart (Polis)

• Strong Cold Dead, by Jon Land (Forge)

• A Study In Scarlet Women, by Sherry Thomas (Berkley)

• Teetotaled, by Maia Chance (Minotaur)

• Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil, by Melina Marchetta (Mulholland)

• A Terrible Beauty, by Tasha Alexander (Minotaur)

• The Trespasser, by Tana French (Viking)

• Triple Crown, by Felix Francis (Putnam)

• The Twelve Dogs of Christmas, by David Rosenfelt (Minotaur)

• The Whistler, by John Grisham (Doubleday)

• The White Devil, by Domenic Stansberry (Molotov Editions)

• Without Mercy, by Jefferson Bass (Morrow)

• With Six You Get Wally, by Al Lamanda (Five Star)

OCTOBER (UK):

• Betrayal, by Martina Cole (Headline)

• Beyond the Truth, by Anne Holt (Corvus)

• The Black Friar, by S.G. MacLean (Quercus)

• The Brother, by Joakim Zander (Head of Zeus)

• Chain of Custody, by Anita Nair (Bitter Lemon Press)

• Cold Earth, by Ann Cleeves (Macmillan)

• Death at the Seaside, by Frances Brody (Piatkus)

• Deep Water, by Christine Poulson (Lion)

• The Enemy Within, by Edward Marston (Allison & Busby)

• The Exiled, by Kati Hiekkapelto (Orenda)

• Hidden Killers, by Lynda La Plante (Simon & Schuster)

• A Hunt in Winter, by Conor Brady (New Island)

• The Ice Lands, by Steinar Bragi (Macmillan)

• The Keeper, by Alastair Gunn (Penguin)

• Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz (Orion)

• Mercy Killing, by Lisa Cutts (Simon & Schuster)

• The Mine, by Antti Tuomainen (Orenda)

• My Husband’s Son, by Deborah O’Connor (Twenty7)

• Never Alone, by Elizabeth Haynes (Myriad Editions)

• The Secret, by Katerina Diamond (Avon)

• Sun and Shadows, by Dominique Sylvain (MacLehose Press)

• Tell Me No Lies, by Lisa Hall (Carina)

• Thin Air, by Michelle Paver (Orion)

• The Travelling Bag and Other Ghostly Stories, by Susan Hill (Profile)

NOVEMBER (U.S.):

• Ash Island, by Barry Maitland (Minotaur)

• Bitter Moon, by Alexandra Sokoloff
(Thomas & Mercer)

• Black Widow, by Christopher Brookmyre (Little, Brown)

• Bullet Gal, by Andrez Bergen (Roundfire)

• The Champagne Conspiracy, by Ellen Crosby (Minotaur)

• The Chemist, by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)

• City on Edge, by Stefanie Pintoff (Bantam)

• Collected Millar: Legendary Novels of Suspense, by Margaret Millar (Soho Syndicate)

• Conclave, by Robert Harris (Knopf)

• The Cthulhu Casebooks: Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows, by James Lovegrove (Titan)

• Death Comes to the Fair, by Catherine Lloyd (Kensington)

• Desolation Flats, by Andrew Hunt (Minotaur)

• Fireside Gothic, by Andrew Taylor (HarperCollins)

• Glow of Death, by Jane K. Cleland (Minotaur)

• The Hanging Club, by Tony Parsons (Minotaur)

• Heart Attack and Vine, by Phoef Sutton (Prospect Park)

• The Hermit, by Thomas Rydahl (Oneworld)

• The Inheritance, by Charles Finch (Minotaur)

• Inherit the Bones, by Emily Littlejohn (Minotaur)

• The Jekyll Revelation, by Robert Masello (47North)

• Maigret’s First Case, by Georges Simenon (Penguin)

• The Mayakovsky Tapes, by Robert Littell (Thomas Dunne)

• Milicent Le Sueur, by Margaret Moseley (Brash)

• Night School, by Lee Child (Delacorte Press)

• No Man’s Land, by David Baldacci (Grand Central)

• Pacific Homicide, by Patricia Smiley (Midnight Ink)

• Painted Skins, by Matt Hilton (Severn House)

• Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, by Anne Rice (Knopf)

• Pull Me Under, by Kelly Luce (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)

• Road to Perdition, by Max Allan Collins (Brash)

• Ruler of the Night, by David Morrell (Mulholland)

• Say No More, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

• Secrets and Shamrocks, by Phyllis Gobbell (Five Star)

• Sinner Man, by Lawrence Block (Hard Case Crime)

• The Sleeping Beauty Killer, by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke (Simon & Schuster)

• The Snarl of the Beast: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Volume 2, by Carroll John Daly (Altus Press)

• Solitaire, by Jane Thynne (Simon & Schuster)

• The Spy, by Paulo Coelho (Knopf)

• Storm Cell, by Brendan DuBois (Pegasus)

• Storm Rising, by Douglas Schofield (Minotaur)

• Stone Coffin, by Kjell Eriksson (Minotaur)

• Tales from the Darkside, by Joe Hill (IDW)

• There Was a Crooked Man, by K.J. Larsen (Poisoned Pen Press)

• Thus Bad Begins, by Javier Marías (Knopf)

• Turbo Twenty-Three, by Janet Evanovich (Bantam)

• The Twenty-Three, by Linwood Barclay (Berkley)

• Under the Midnight Sun, by Keigo Higashino (Minotaur)

• A Voice in the Night, by Andrea Camilleri (Penguin)

• The Wrong Side of Goodbye, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

NOVEMBER (UK):

• The Beautiful Dead, by Belinda Bauer (Bantam Press)

• Before I Let You In, by Jenny Blackhurst (Headline)

• The Blood Card, by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)

• A Cold Case in Amsterdam Central, by Anja de Jager (Constable)

• Framed, by Ronnie O’Sullivan (Orion)

• Gallows Drop, by Mari Hannah (Macmillan)

• The Gravity of Love, by Sara Stridsberg (MacLehose Press)

• The Harbour Master, by Daniel Pembrey (No Exit Press)

• A High Mortality of Doves, by Kate Ellis (Piatkus)

• Lovemurder, by Saul Black (Orion)

• Motives for Murder, edited by Martin Edwards (Sphere)

• No Place Like Home, by Kerry Wilkinson (Pan)

• Pendulum, by Adam Hamdy (Headline)

• A Pilgrimage of Murder, by Paul Doherty (Creme de la Crime)

• Rather Be the Devil, by Ian Rankin (Orion)

• The Taken, by Alice Clark-Platts (Penguin)

• Trespass, by Anthony J. Quinn (Head of Zeus)

• Truth Will Out, by A.D. Garrett (Corsair)

• Where Dead Men Meet, by Mark Mills (Headline Review)

• Zodiac, by Sam Wilson (Penguin)

DECEMBER (U.S.):

• Bad Blood, by Hugh Dutton (Five Star)

• Brazen, by Loren D. Estleman (Forge)

• Bryant & May: Strange Tide, by Christopher Fowler (Bantam)

• Buried in the Country, by Carola Dunn (Minotaur)

• Death Going Down, by María Angélica Bosco (Pushkin Vertigo)

• Death on the Patagonian Express, by Hy Conrad (Kensington)

• Don’t Turn Out the Lights, by Bernard Minier (Minotaur)

• East of the Sun, by Trey R. Barker (Five Star)

• The Edit, by J. Sydney Jones (Mysterious Press/Open Road)

• Expecting to Die, by Lisa Jackson (Kensington)

• The Ice Beneath Her, by Camilla Grebe (Ballantine)

• In Sunlight or in Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper, edited by Lawrence Block (Pegasus)

• The Knife Slipped, by Erle Stanley Gardner (Hard Case Crime)

• The Marriage Lie, by Kimberly Belle (Mira)

• The Midnight Bell, by Jack Higgins (Putnam)

• My Friend Maigret, by Georges Simenon (Penguin)

• The Reek of Red Herrings, by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur)

• Swann’s Last Song, by Charles Salzberg (Down & Out)

• They Are Trying to Break Your Heart, by David Savill (Bloomsbury)

• Walk Into Silence, by Susan McBride (Thomas & Mercer)

• Who Watcheth, by Helene Tursten (Soho Crime)

• The Twilight Wife, by A.J. Banner (Touchstone)

DECEMBER (UK):

• The Acid Test, by Élmer Mendoza (MacLehose Press)

• Finisterre, by Graham Hurley (Head of Zeus)

• Road Kill, by Hanna Jameson (Head of Zeus)

• Then She Was Gone, by Luca Veste (Simon & Schuster)